Take-down archery bow

ABSTRACT

A take-down archery bow having a pair of bow limbs with stepped interior ends which are adapted to be locked in the mated position by a threaded bolt. The lateral surfaces between the steps has an interengaging ramp and incline combination which interacts to apply a longitudinal force on the bow limbs to draw the stepped ends of the bow limbs together as the bolt draws the lateral surfaces together. A pair of interengaging boss and cutout portions are also provided to absorb a portion of the bending loads acting on the limbs.

United States Patent 1 Karbo June 12, 1973 [54] TAKE-DOWN ARCHERY BOW [75] Inventor: Richard S. Karbo, Whittier, Calif. [73] Assignee: Brunswick Corporation, Chicago, Ill.

[22] Filed: Feb. 11, 9171 [21] Appl. No.: 114,567

[52] U.S. Cl. 124/24, 273/DIG. 7

[51] Int. Cl. F41b 5/00 [58] Field of Search 124/24, 23, 22, 25,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,527,196 9/l970 Karbo l l 124/20 2,163,503 6/1939 Tate 124/23 2,642,661 6/1953 Fredrickson 124/23 3,262,442 7/1966 Grable 124/24 Primary Examiner-Richard C. Pinkham Assistant Examiner-William R. Browne Att0rneyD0nald S. Olexa, Sheldon L. Epstein.

John G. Heimovics et al..

[ 57] ABSTRACT 4 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures 1 TAKE-DOWN ARCHERY BOW BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to twopiece demountable or, as they are more commonly kmown, take-down archery bows and more particularly to take-down bows having coupling members in snug engagement with each other to prevent any relative movement therebetween.

2. Description of the Prior Art Archery bows, particularly those used for hunting game, are exceptionally long, sometimes approaching the height of the archer. As a result, such bows are relatively awkward and cumbersome to carry and transport. In order to facilitate their handling, archery bows have in the past been constructed in two or more pieces which can be assembled and disassembled. When disassembled, the bow limbs are relatively short and easy to transport. When assembled, usually at the location of their intended utilization, the bow limbs are reunited to form a full length archery bow.

Bows of this size, ranging in length up to or 6 feet, must be strongly constructed since they require a drawing force of approximately 50 to 60 pounds. The parting line of such a bow is most ideally locatd at the center section of the bow in order to enable the bow to be taken down into pieces of equal length. Since the bows center section experiences the maximum bending moments during operation, it must be the strongest part of the bow. A major shortcoming with prior bows is that the coupling of the members at the center sections substantially weakened the amount of drawing force these bows could absorb. Moreover, the coupling members tend to creak during utilization. Such creaking is distracting to the archer and may effect the accuracy of his shot.

Another major shortcoming with prior take-down bows is that quite often special tools are necessary to assemble and connect the mating members. On an excursion, it is quite probable that such tools could be lost. When this happens, the bow cannot be assembled and the whole trip is ruined.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention obviates the above-mentioned shortcomings by providing a take-down bow that is quite easy to assemble and very sturdy in construction. The bow comprises a pair of bow limbs, disposed in an end-to-end relationship and a bow string interconnecting the outer extremities thereof to define a plane. The inner extremities of the bow limbs are joined together by a pair of coupling members formed thereon. Each coupling member comprises a pair of stepped end faces lying normal to the bow plane. The coupling members are oriented to enable the stepped surfaces thereof to mate in a face-to-face relationship. The coupling members are secured in the mated position by a threaded bolt. The bolt is journaled within the one coupling member and extends out of the lateral surface thereof to engage a threaded socket formed in the other coupling member. A ramp is formed on the lateral surface of one of the coupling members and is adaptd to extend into an inclined cavity formed in the other coupling member. The ramp and incline are angularly oriented to create a longitudinal force on the two coupling members as these members are drawn together by the bolt.

This longitudinal force causes the mating stepped end faces of the two members to be drawn more closely together to create a tighter fitting interengagement. The concave corner of each stepped coupling member further comprises an angular boss which is adapted to extend into a mating cut-out portion of the convex corner of the other stepped coupling member. The interengagement of these two elements functions to absorb a portion of the bending load acting on the bow limbs.

An important advantage of the present invention is that the two-piece bow is quite strong in construction and very silent during operation.

Another advantage of the present invention is that the two-piece bow can be easily assembled and taken down without any special tools or multiplicity of parts.

The features of the present invention which are believed to be novel are set forth with particularly in the appended claims. The present invention, both as to its organization and manner of operation, together with further objects and advantages thereof, may best be understood by reference to the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a two-piece takedown bow constructed in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a front elevational view of the bow in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary, enlarged, perspective view of the center section of the bow shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an exploded, fragmentary, perspective view of the bows center section; and

FIG. 5 is an exploded, fragmentary, perspecive view of the bows center section illustrating the opposite side of FIG. 4.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring first to FIGS. 1 and 2, a take-down bow 10 includes a pair of bow limbs 12 and 14 which are releasably joined together by a coupling 16 disposed in the center of the bow. The. bow limbs are conventionally shaped to provide the desired draw force when a string 18 is pulled away from the bow to propel an arrow (not shown) with the desired force.

The bow limbs may be constructed of high grade wood laminations, or of a wood and fiberglass combination, all in accordance with the prior art.

Referring to FIGS. 3 5, the coupling 16 is constructed of first and second coupling members 20 and 22. Each coupling member comprises a pair of stepped end faces 24 and 26 lying normal to the bow plane, and a lateral surface 28 intersecting said end faces 24 and 26. The intersections of the faces 24 and 26 with the lateral surface 28 form a convex corner 29 and a concave corner 31. As shown in FIG. 3, the coupling members are oriented to enable the stepped faces 24 and 26 and the lateral surface 28 to mate in a face-to-face relationship.

The coupling members 20 and 22 are secured in the mated position by a threaded bolt 30, which is adapted to be journaled within a threaded bore 32 extending into the coupling member 20. A second bore 34 is formed within the coupling member 26 and extends out of its lateral surface 28. As shown in FIG. 5, the bolt 30 includes a threaded portion 36 located on the lower extremity of the shaft while the upper portion forms a smooth cylindrical portion 38. The bolt 30 further includes an enlarged bearing surface 39 located adjacent the knob 40. The bore 32 further includes a bearing surface 42 while the bore 34 includes an enlarged cylindrical portion located adjacent the lateral surface 28 and a threaded portion located at the bottom of the bore.

The coupling member 20 further includes a ramp 44 positioned on the lateral surface 28 with the ramp having an inclined surface 46 formed thereon. The coupling member 22 further includes an inclined cavity 48 having an incline 50 formed within the lateral surface 28. The incline cavity 48 is adapted to rceive the ramp 46 when the coupling members 20 and 22 are mated.

Each concave corner 31 of the coupling members 20 and 22 includes a boss section 52 formed thereon while the convex corner 29 further includes a cut-out portion 54 for receiving a registering boss section of the other coupling member. The boss sections 52 and cut-out portions 54 include parallel faces 56 and 58, respectively, and angular faces 59, which are adapted to engage each other in a face-to-face relationship.

In operation the coupling members 20 and 22 of the bow limbs 12 and 14 are adapted to be positioned as shown in FIG. 3. In this position, the lateral surfaces 28 are placed in a side-by-side relationship while the end faces 24 abut with the end faces 26 of the opposite coupling member. Afterwhich, the bolt 30 is threaded into the threaded bore 32. Because of the depth of the cylindrical portion of the bore 34 and the length of the threaded section 36 of the bolt 30, the threaded section 36 becomes completely disengaged with the threaded bore 32 before it engages the bottom threaded portion of the bore 34. Upon further rotation, the threaded portion 36 of the bolt 30 engages the bottom threaded portion of the bore 34 while the cylindrical portion 38 of the bolt 30 is journaled within the bore 32. Upon further rotation, the bolt 30 bottoms out with its bearing portion 39 abutting the bearing portion 42 of the bore 32. Afterwhich, the bolt is further rotated to draw the lateral face 28 of the coupling member 22 toward the lateral surface 28 of the coupling member 20.

Durng this movement the incline surface 46 of the ramp 44 engages the incline 50 of the cavity 48. Because the ramp 44 is inclined toward the concave corner 31 of the coupling member 20 and the incline of the cavity 48 is inclned in the opposite direction, longitudinal forces are created to draw the mating end faces 24 and 26 more closely together to create a tighter fitting interengagement. In this manner, not only are the two coupling members 20 and 22 secure but the interengagement is so strong and tight fitting that creaking is prevented. Moreover, the interengaging faces 56 and 58 of the boss sections 52 and mating cut-out portions 54 further function to absorb a portion of the bending loads acting on the bow while the angular faces 59 thereof function to absorb a portion of the longitudinal force created by the ramp-inclined combination.

As can be seen, the coupling members 20 and 22 can be easily and quickly assembled and secured without any special tools or complex parts. Moreover, the coupling members 20 and 22 are secured in a snug relationship capable of absorbing the bending loads acting thereon.

It should be noted that various modifications can be made to the apparatus while still remaining within the purview of the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A two-piece bow comprising:

a pair of similar bow limbs longitudinally disposed in an interior end-to-end relationship having means for interconnecting a bow string at the outer extremeties thereof, said bow limbs and a bow string defining a bow plane;

a pair of coupling members formed at the interior ends of the bow limbs, each coupling member comprises a pair of stepped end faces lying normal to the bow plane and a laterla surface intersecting said end faces, said coupling members being orinted to enable the stepped faces and the lateral surfaces to mate in a face-to-face relationship;

means located in each of the mating faces for maintaining the bow limbs in a preselected spaced relationship with each other; and said means in the faces includes mating valleys and ridges,

means substantially perpendicular to the bow plane for securing the bow limbs in mated position thereby preventing any substantial relative sliding movement therebetween.

2. The invention of claim 1 wherein said securing mens comprises:

a threaded bolt journaled within one of said coupling members and extending out of the lateral surface thereof; and

a threaded socket formed within the member for receiving said bolt.

3. The invention of cliam 1 furthr includes a plug positioned on the lateral surface of one of said coupling members; and 8c a cavity formed on the lateral surface of the other coupling member for receiving said plug, said plug engaging said cavity as the lateral surfaces are drawn together.

4. The invention of claim 3 wherein the intersection of the lateral surface with the stepped faces forms a concave corner and a COHVCX corner.

other coupling 

1. A two-piece bow comprising: a pair of similar bow limbs longitudinally disposed in an interior end-to-end relationship having means for interconnecting a bow string at the outer extremeties thereof, said bow limbs and a bow string defining a bow plane; a pair of coupling members formed at the interior ends of the bow limbs, each coupling member comprises a pair of stepped end faces lying normal to the bow plane and a laterla surface intersecting said end faces, said coupling members being orinted to enable the stepped faces and the lateral surfaces to mate in a face-to-face relationship; means located in each of the mating faces for maintaining the bow limbs in a preselected spaced relationship with each other; and said means in the faces includes mating valleys and ridges, means substantially perpendicular to the bow plane for securing the bow limbs in mated position thereby preventing any substantial relatiVe sliding movement therebetween.
 2. The invention of claim 1 wherein said securing mens comprises: a threaded bolt journaled within one of said coupling members and extending out of the lateral surface thereof; and a threaded socket formed within the other coupling member for receiving said bolt.
 3. The invention of cliam 1 furthr includes a plug positioned on the lateral surface of one of said coupling members; and 8c a cavity formed on the lateral surface of the other coupling member for receiving said plug, said plug engaging said cavity as the lateral surfaces are drawn together.
 4. The invention of claim 3 wherein the intersection of the lateral surface with the stepped faces forms a concave corner and a convex corner. 